The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ Alif. Lam. Ra. These are the verses of the Book and the glorious Quran. 1 A time will surely come when those who are bent on denying the truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God, 2 Leave them to feast and revel, beguiled by hope; they will come to know soon. 3 And We did not destroy any city but that for it was a known decree. 4 Every nation can only live for the time appointed for it. 5 They say, "You to whom the Reminder [the Quran] has been sent down, you are surely possessed. 6 Why bringest thou not angels unto us if thou art of the truthtellers! 7 We send not down the angels, save with truth; 8 Indeed We have sent down the Qur’an, and indeed We Ourselves surely are its Guardians. (This is one of the miracles of the Qur’an – no one has been able to change even one letter of its text, despite every effort. It has remained in its original form since the 6th Century (A. D) and will remain so forever. Other Holy Books such as the Torah and the Bible have lost their originality.) 9 (O Muhammad), certainly We did send Messengers before you among the nations which have gone by. 10 And no messenger would come to them except that they ridiculed him. 11 Thus do We make it traverse the hearts of the guilty: 12 who do not believe in it, although the way which those [evildoers] of olden times had to go has long been within their ken. 13 And even if We open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while, 14 They would surely say: intoxicated have been our sights; aye! we are a people enchanted. 15